Billson’s loyalty to the deposed former prime Minister Tony Abbott came at a cost. After the cabinet reshuffle, Turnbull reduced him to the position of Minister on the front bench to Kelly O’Dwyer, who became the Minister of Small Business and Assistant Treasurer. Turnbull had also offered Billson the chance to take the lower-level position of Minister for Cities, but it was not appealing to him.
In the public announcement of his decision to step down from Parliament, Billson stated that throughout his 20-year tenure in Parliament, which included the six years he served as a shadow Minister and Minister, he has been able to:
” …fearlessly advocating the case for the small business, family enterprise, start-up and self-employed community.“
“It has become clear to us that while I love what I do, it is not possible for me to fully do what I love.”
Australia’s Small Business Minister is in the spotlight over time.
Bruce Billson was Australia’s 15th Minister for Small Business. The first Minister was Barry Jones, who took office in 1988, during the beginning of the Hawke Labor Government. Jones was the Minister for a period of two and three months, during which his duties were combined with the responsibilities of the Minister in charge of Science and Customs.
David Beddall followed with a term that lasted for nearly three years and spans the Prime Ministerial career that included Bob Hawke and Paul Keating. Like Jones, Beddall was required to share his small business portfolio with science, customs, and construction. But it was to his credit that Beddall requested a study of Australia’s small business sector and the issues, challenges, and opportunities. This report was released in the year 1990 and remains one of the most significant documents on small-business policies and practices in Australia.
Chris Schacht came next and was also in office for nearly three years prior to his Keating government was overthrown by John Howard’s coalition victory. Howard selected five small-business ministers. Geoff Prosser (March 1996 until July 1997), Peter Reith (July 1997 until Jan. 2001), Ian Macfarlane (January until November 2001), Joe Hockey (November 2001 until October 2004) as well as Fran Bailey (October 2004 until November 2004 to December 2007). The majority of these Ministers were in the small-business portfolio with others, such as tourism, consumer affairs, and employment, as well as workplace relations.
After Kevin Rudd took office as the first Prime Minister in 2007, He named Craig Emerson as Minister for Small Business, Independent Contractors, and the Service Economy. Emerson worked until the end of 2010, after which Prime Minister Julia Gillard replaced him with Nick Sherry.
Gillard believed that it was important to have a dedicated Minister of Small Business within the cabinet. However, the turbulent period of the Gillard government saw the appointment of a series of ministers: Mark Arbib (December 2011 until March 2012), Brendan O’Connor (March 2012 until Feb. 2013), Chris Bowen (February to March 2013) as well as Gary Gray (March to September 2013).
The Small Business field is, therefore, an element of a bigger area of responsibility for the Minister. Without its department and a legislative framework, it could easily be an extraneous area.
The legacy of Billson
Billson, who held the shadow portfolio for small businesses, was appointed Minister after Tony Abbott’s election victory in September 2013. The term was only two months and three days, however, he came into the job well-prepared. Of the numerous policies pushed in the Liberal Party prior to the 2013 election, the procedures relating to small businesses were most likely to be the most thoroughly designed.
These policies were plans to reduce tax burdens, cut compliance costs, enhance the size of small businesses, review competition laws, and provide unfair contract protection for small-scale business owners. With an official seat in the cabinet and an official support team for policy based within the Treasury, Billson set out to implement the blueprint for small-scale businesses.
